Injured
by iamtheillusion
Summary: Eden is terrified of every man who comes in contact with her on the Enterprise after she is rescued from the slave trade. Can she learn to trust? OCxBones, possibly OCxKirk?
1. Chapter 1

As I opened my eyes, my hazy vision met one thing: tubes. Tubes everywhere, coming out of my arms in multiple areas and I could just barely feel one on my neck.  
I was lying in a bed. The ceiling was blue.

That was all the information that I had about the place I found myself.

I tried to sit up, but quickly found that I could not; a shooting pain ran through my ribs like a knife, and a cry escaped from my lips out into the empty room. My scream echoed down the darkened hallway.

Moving to cradle my injury, I looked down at my arm and noticed how many tubes there were. Both arms, almost covered.

"You're up."

I swung my vision towards a dark haired man in a blue uniform who stood not far from me. My eyes widened.

I panicked.

I shook my head and tried to push myself out of the bed but I was too weak. The tubes were keeping me there; holding me down. So I tried to hide. As he stepped forward, I retreated further under the blankets, pushing my face into the pillow as much as I could. "Hia—hia!" I begged, clutching my side. Tears trickled down my face. The pain near my ribs was like nothing I'd ever experienced. Sharp and shooting and quick.

"Listen to me, calm down."

I felt his hand on my shoulder and I shrank from it. _English. _Father taught me that—I knew that one. "Please, please, please, no," I cried. My hair stuck to my forehead uncomfortably. I grabbed at the tubes in my arm and pulled.

"You're going to disconnect the tubes keeping you alive!" he said impatiently, grabbing my shoulder and trying to pin me upright. He held my arms down while I cried and cool metal locked around my wrists. Keeping me here. I felt like I couldn't breathe.

He walked towards one of the medical machines, pushing buttons in a random combination. My sobs choked me as I shook my head wildly. "Please don't hurt me, please, sir, _please_!"

He froze, back towards me.

I was still crying loudly. Still petrified. "Please don't do this, please don't hurt me."

When he turned, he looked almost remorseful. "I'm trying to heal you, not hurt you." He shook his head, knotting his fingers together. "What do you think I'm doing?"

I sniffed but didn't offer a response.

Upon further inspection, I noticed he stood much further back now. "How do you feel?"

I shivered. All the tubes in my arms did too, clicking against each other. My arms were still locked to the bed. I didn't answer him.

"Your ribs hurt, don't they? Right side?" His tone was different. Gentler. I couldn't tell if he was trying to catch me off guard, or if he was just acting nice now.

I glanced at my side and looked back up. I nodded.

"That's because three of your ribs are broken, among other things. You're tougher than you look to survive that crash."

I was trying not to make any eye contact with him, but it was harder than it seemed. My tears were drying on my face and it was uncomfortable to not be able to reach up and wipe them away.

Walking off, he pushed a button on a machine further away and spoke into it. "Jim."

Another voice came out of the box, and I sat up a bit taller, trying to see. The voice answered, groggy, "Bones, it's three in the morning, it better be important."

After that, he tried to speak in hushed tones. I could still hear him, but I pretended not to, laying my head back down on the pillow. I noted, however, how tired he seemed. How dark the circles under his eyes were.

I wondered how long he'd been awake.

I wondered how long I'd been _asleep_.

The doctor spoke low into the machine. "Listen, I know what time it is. But she's up. And I don't know what to do with her, Jim—she's scared out of her mind, and she won't answer any questions."

"You ever thought that maybe she just doesn't speak English?"

"She does. She was screaming and saying not to hurt her."

"Shock from the crash?"

"Not a classic case at least, and the drugs I gave her were non-hallucinatory. I think you need to see her."

I heard him sigh from the other end. "I'll be right up."

"Wait, Jim."

"What?"

"Bring Spock."

"Excuse me?"

"Just trust me, bring him."

And then he let go of the button, and the voice on the other end was gone.

When he looked back at me, I feigned sleep and he fell for it. Once I opened my eyes again, though, I found that he was intent on something else on the other end of the room. Measurements, or something. I let myself relax an inch; he was far away and unfocused. But I felt my palms get clammy as I remembered he had called two other men for help.

I didn't know what their intentions were.

I hoped they weren't all going to attack me. One was bad enough.

My breathing quickened again but I tried to calm myself inwardly. Anything that these people could put me through would not be the worst it had ever been. I had experienced worse and I would, most likely, experience worse in the future. So I needed to calm myself.

I wished I could pull my hands up to the curve of my neck, but they were still clamped down to the bed. I wanted to huddle into myself and hide away from it all.

I cursed the man in my head, but then thought better of it; at least he had kept me alive. I assumed that all these tubes were doing just that: medicating me, nursing me back to health—at least that's what I guessed from what he had said earlier.

I heard the doors on the far end of the room slide open and feigned sleep again. Maybe they wouldn't bother me now; not when I was asleep.

I made out of the sound of their footsteps, coming further inside. Closer to me. A sleepy voice yawned, "Bones, she's asleep, we shouldn't—"

"She's not asleep." That voice was the doctor. "Look at her breathing patterns, Jim, they're going up. She's nervous that we're over here."

_Calm yourself, calm yourself, calm yourself!_

"Hmm." I felt a single set of footsteps drawing closer to where I was. "Are you awake?"

I tried to even out my breathing. It was only getting quicker.

His hand grazed my shoulder and instantly my eyes snapped open, moving away as best I could under my binds. Breathing was harder.

"Captain, I would recommend that you step away. She is obviously frightened of your close proximity to her." I turned to look at the third man, who, as he advised the 'captain', was standing a safe distance away. _Vulcan_. He wouldn't hurt me. He would keep me safe; Vulcans were honorable people. I had learned this long ago.

I let out a shaky breath and spoke quickly in his language. "_Please don't let them_ _hurt me, I'm very scared._"

The doctor and captain narrowed their eyes as the Vulcan responded smoothly. "_We will not harm you. We are friends, do not fear_."

"_Then why am I being restrained?_"

The Vulcan whose name I assumed to be 'Spock' looked at the doctor sharply. "Unlock her binds. She is not a prisoner."

"Spock, she was going to rip out her IVs—"

"She will not now. Please unlock them."

I looked up at the doctor for a shaky half-second and said quietly, switching smoothly to English, "I will not undo the effort you have put towards healing me. I apologize."

The doctor looked back once more before halfheartedly pushing a button that made the chains disappeared into the mattress.

The man who I assumed was "Jim" pulled a chair up to the foot of my bed. A safe distance away, but still not a comfortable one. "How do you feel?"

I could feel my heartbeat in my head. Nerves. "In pain, Sir."

"3 ribs broken, from the crash," the doctor finished for me.

"Where was your ship going before the crash?"

I rubbed my hands together, willing them not to shake. I didn't want to be afraid of these men, but I was. I didn't know anything about my circumstances; all I remembered was being on the ship to Regant IV and a bright light; there wasn't anything else.

I pulled a piece of hair behind my ear and looked at the Vulcan. "_I do not wish to be rude or disrespectful to the captain, I would prefer speaking to you alone, sir._"

The Captain looked at the Vulcan inquisitively. Spock responded, "Her exact words, roughly translated, are, 'all due respect, but I do not feel comfortable speaking with them here'."

"Do you know her, Spock?" The doctor asked, incredulous.

"I do not," he intertwined his fingers in front of him. "but she is seemingly much more at ease speaking to me in Vulcan than with you both in English."

The doctor cracked a smile and I felt better. I had thought maybe he was going to hit me for my disrespect; but he had only thought it funny.

"You Vulcans always win, don't you?"

The Captain laughed and I looked over at him. He looked like Cameron. Tall, mischievous eyes, dirty blonde hair. Except that Cameron could be trusted and this man could not be. Not yet.

The Captain caught my glance and held it before I looked down at the sheets. He stood up and said, "I'm very sorry if we scared you. That was never our intent. You're safe on the Enterprise, don't worry."

The Vulcan stood too. "Unfortunately, your words will most likely mean nothing to her until they are proved."

The captain kept a slight smirk on his face and brought his hands together. "Well then, Spock. You figure this out, because I'm going back to bed." He turned back to me and nodded. "Goodnight, miss."

As he walked out, the doctor walked over to Spock. "If I'm not going to sit in, then I'm going to catch an hour of sleep—wake me up when you're done and I'll keep an eye on her vitals." He walked down the hallway and called behind him, "Don't forget, Spock. I've gotta keep an eye on that blood pressure."

"Noted, Doctor McCoy."

And then it was just myself and the Vulcan. I felt myself relax exponentially, and I peeked at the scanner on the screen. The one that identified my breathing was back to normal. I rested my head back down on the pillow, closed my eyes, took a deep breath in, trying to regain balance in my system. I focused up on the ceiling as my equilibrium returned to normal. Meditation was something I learned long ago to cope with my surroundings; it helped, sometimes, after the danger and the panic were mostly gone. He waited patiently.

"_Thank you for waiting_." I said, looking up at him. "_I am sorry that I cannot sit up at the moment, it is very painful to move._"

"_There is no need for an apology. You are injured, you should not be expected to socialize at all._" He paused for a moment, collecting his own thoughts. "_You are Terran, I assume?_"

I nodded slowly. "_You must be very learned to know so quickly._"

"_I was thinking the same of you. So far, you have proven that you are fluent in two seperate languages. Do you know more?"_

"_I'm fluent in…four total. But I know pieces of others."_

"_Would you be comfortable speaking in English? I have become accustomed to thinking in that language rather than this one."_

"Of course."

He raised an eyebrow at my ability to change back and forth from language to language. "I will not deny that I am impressed."

"That is very kind of you, sir." I paused, looking at him squarely. "Where am I?"

He grabbed the chair that the Captain had been seated in and pulled it to my bedside. "You have been rescued by the USS Enterprise, a Starfleet vessel. The ship you were aboard crashed on the planet we were scouting, Alpha Taurus. You," he spoke slowly, wary, "were the only person who survived the crash."

My eyes widened. "You're sure?"

He nodded.

As a smile found its way to my lips, I closed my eyes and thanked whatever being was controlling our universe that I had gotten away from Echo.

"Are you well?"

"Yes," I beamed, trying to sit up from excitement but finding quickly that my injury would prevent it. I looked down with knotted brows and grazed my hand along my sides. A small price to pay for escape. "Did your ship shoot it down?"

He was still confused. "No, it had already crashed—I apologize, but I do not understand why you are so elated for the misfortune of your ship."

I paused. "I was a slave aboard that ship. I was being transported to Regent IV for another sale before it must have crashed."

An eyebrow rose as he looked down at the floor. "My deepest apologies for your—"

"What's done is done." I stopped. Carefully choosing my words. "I have your crew to thank for rescuing me. As you probably noticed, however, I have a certain…irrational mistrust for human men."

"With good reason," he said quietly. "Why, however, do you so easily trust me, but not the Captain or Doctor McCoy?"

"Because you are a Vulcan. And Vulcans have honor, while men do not."

He pondered my words, not saying anything. "What is your name?"

"Eden."

"A rich, ancient name. It suits you well."

Silence overtook us. I was glad that he didn't try to pry into my past; to ask of things that would only bring back sharp, cutting memories that I had long tried to suppress.

His voice broke the glass silence. "Eden: I feel I must assure you that no harm will come to you while you are onboard the Enterprise. I will explain the situation to the Captain and the Doctor, and we will try to accommodate you as best we can. But I must urge you: McCoy is a licensed doctor who, in order to heal you, may at times, have to be in close proximity to you to do his work. You must learn to trust him. I assure you, his hands will not wander."

"It is not as simple as you would believe." I took a steady breath.

"I do not believe it to be simple at all. And while I do not understand or process your emotion of fear, I do realize your reasoning of mistrust from a logical standpoint."

"Don't let them be offended, Sir. I don't mean to push them away. It's a terrible reaction, but one that I have nonetheless."

He leaned forward slightly. "You apologize for your human reactions due to a troubled past. Do not apologize for such things. They are merely your mind's defense systems reaching out. Defense systems that must be re-trained in a safe and trustworthy environment."

"You make it sound easy."

"It may be simpler than you let yourself believe."

I pulled my hands up to the curve of my neck. I felt myself drifting off again; whether from natural sleep or medication, I wasn't sure. "I won't bother you any longer, please go back to sleep in your quarters. Thank you for your time."

He stood and nodded respectfully. "Sleep well, and rest in the comfort of safety."

I let myself fall fully back into the pillow and called after him, "Should I stay awake for the Doctor's arrival?"

He raised an eyebrow, barely. "You were listening, as I should've assumed. I will take down your vitals and give them to the Doctor. He will have no need to come back for the night." He peered at the scanner, opening a file of some kind on it, before he looked back at me. "Please, rest. If he insists on personally checking, I will not leave."

I nodded and burrowed down in my pillow, my breathing steady and even, feeling secure for the first time in eight years.


	2. Chapter 2

When I woke up, the room looked exactly the same as it did the night before. No windows on a Starship. I looked at my body scanner but found that the time wasn't written on it anywhere. Sighing, I looked back up at the ceiling, my mind flooded with thoughts that I hadn't dealt with yet. It was strange to have time to _think_. I had never had that before.

Mixed emotions swirled through my mind as I thought thankfully about Echo's death, but also about my new situation. I didn't know what to do next, or where to go now.

"Morning," the doctor said, bringing in the vague smell of coffee with him and carrying various medical tools with him on a tray. "I'm gonna do a full physical exam, to make sure nothing else is wrong with you."

I stared downward. My stomach churned. I knotted my fingers.

As he pushed a few buttons, the back of my bed rose, so that I was almost sitting upright. I didn't meet his eyes. My hands shook like leaves in the winter, just trying to hold on.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, alright? I'm just making sure you're not sick. I'm just trying to help, okay?"

I nodded, eyes still locked on my legs, hands clasped tightly.

Gingerly, he placed the end of a device onto my back, making sure not to touch me with his hands, and put the front parts in his ears. "Breathe deep for me."

With difficulty, I tried to take a deep breath in, but didn't make it all the way to the full capacity of my lungs—my side hurt too much.

"Try again."

I did, but once again, I didn't make it all the way.

He shook his head, muttering, and jotted something down on his PADD. He grasped a small cylinder that looked like a pen from the tray. "Look up at me."

Slowly, I looked right next to his face, into the darkened hallway. I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eyes; not yet.

"Eden, come on."

"Yes sir," I said quietly. I bit my tongue, afraid of punishment, and looked at his eyes. His brows were creased and he shined a light into my eyes one at a time. Even though I squinted, I kept them at his eye level.

I noted quickly that his eyes were brown, with little flecks of grey scattered. Odd.

More scribbling.

He scanned a device around my neck and continued jotting little things down. The scanners didn't bother me. No one was touching me, neither of us were looking at one another, and it was quiet. That was alright.

He scanned my side and looked back at me warily.

"Listen, Eden…I have to feel your ribs, because that's where you're having the problem."

The thought of hands on me again made me shake.

"But listen, I'm gonna get someone to be in here with us, okay? Maybe that'll make you feel better."

He didn't wait for an answer before he sent out a message on the intercom. "Lieutenant Uhura to sickbay, at your earliest convenience."

He looked back at me. "You'll like Uhura."

I didn't look up at him, didn't speak. Only thought about his hands on my skin. I stared at them, like foreign things.

"You called, Doctor Mccoy?"

A tall woman with caramel colored skin walked into the doors with purpose, scanning the room for the doctor. Her eyes fell on me.

"Oh—hello there."

My eyes fell before we had time to look at each other. I folded my arms into myself.

The doctor spoke from the side of the room, seemingly unaware that I could hear. "Listen, I need your help for a few minutes. She has injuries near her abdomen and ribs, but I've got to feel where the damage is. And I'm sure Spock has told you, she's more jumpy that a wet cat."

When I looked up for a split second, I saw the woman nod.

"Look, I would've just gotten a nurse, but she's more comfortable speaking in Vulcan when _I_ can't understand her. So, just sit in here, hold her hand, talk to her in Vulcan, I don't care. Just _something_."

She stepped towards where I sat and smiled gently. "I'm communications officer Uhura, but you can call me Nyota, ok?"

I nodded. Eyes on the ground. Always on the ground.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Eden."

"You speak Vulcan?"

I nodded again.

When she opened her mouth, I was surprised to hear a perfect, crisp accent leave her lips. Better than mine, honestly. My eyes fluttered up. "_The doctor has to perform a check on your ribs to make sure they are not damaged. I'm here to make sure nothing happens that you don't want happening. Your advocate._"

I looked up at her and smiled. "_Thank you."_

When I nodded, Uhura motioned for him to come over.

"We're gonna lay you back down now."

Gently, the back of the bed fell back slowly, I was lying back down on the bed, my head on my pillow. Uhura stood on the other side of the bed from the doctor, grasping my shaking hand. I squeezed my eyes shut as I knew the doctor's hands would soon come to lift up the top of the gown.

"_They say the doctor has the steadiest hands in the fleet_."

I ignored her comment. Steadiness was irrelevant in the current situation.

They were about to see.

They would understand soon.

His hands popped open the first button near my collarbone and all the ones after that, stopping near my pelvis. Cool air rushed on me.

Shocked looks on their faces.

"My god," he said under his breath, and staring at an equally shocked Uhura.

Bruises and cuts and scrapes, _everywhere_. Not a single thing untouched by the purple, yellow, and red splotches on my body. "I knew it was bad from the scanner, but…Christ."

"Please don't press too hard, doctor." I whispered. My teeth chattered.

He shook his head, still stunned. "No—no, I'm not gonna hurt you, darlin'." he said quietly, almost to himself. "Nobody's _ever_ gonna hurt you like this again. Not on my watch."

"_Who did this to you_?" Nyota asked. She squeezed my hand.

"_My past owners. I can only hope that the doctor will be a kinder owner._"

"What?" she asked, shocked.

The doctor looked confused. "What? What did she say?"

"She thinks that you own her."

"Because he does," I interjected. "With all respect, he saved me from the crash, brought me back to life. I belong to him, legally."

"Now hang on a damn minute—"

"It is true, doctor." I insisted. "Please finish your check quickly. I don't like this."

He shook his head and began placing his hands on my abdomen, feeling for injury. I flinched and dug my chin into my shoulder, but if I was being completely honest with myself—his hands were warm and his touch didn't side over me like a snake. It was just where he _needed_ to feel.

"It's alright. It's gonna be okay," he said quietly.

I bit my already raw lip, feeling waves of paranoia rush over me like the sea. "I'm sorry for my reactions, Sir."

Sighing, he answered gently. "Your reactions make you human, Eden. It's fine."

Uhura raised surprised eyebrows at him each time he talked to me quietly. I didn't understand it, but I shook it off.

Light touches near my ribs that didn't linger; prodding that didn't hurt as much as it felt merely uncomfortable.

He shook his head and pulled away before moving to button up my gown again. "Osteogenic stimulator," he mumbled to himself, leaving my side to get supplies. He called behind him, "You can go now, Uhura, thanks."

"Will you be okay?" she said, full attention on me.

I nodded, hopefully convincingly. "_Thank you for staying with me."_

She smiled lightly. "Of course. If you need anything, let me know."

I looked up at the ceiling as she left. I could hear the doctor fiddling with medical tools.

"I'm gonna run this over you and it should help speed up the healing process by a _lot_," he said once he was back next to me. As he scanned it over the length of my injuries, I didn't really feel anything. I looked up quizzically.

"Try to sit up."

I pushed up onto my elbows with a small amount of pain, but nothing completely unbearable. "Amazing," I whispered. I wanted more than anything to ask him how it worked, but I knew that would be a breach in courtesy. You shouldn't ask annoying questions to your owner.

He started scanning me with another machine, this one small and grey, that made a beeping noise every few seconds. He looked down at me and asked, "What's this you were saying about me _owning _you?"

"That you do. I am yours. Legally."

He squinted at me and grimaced. "No, I didn't buy you, I just patched you up after we found you in the wreckage. That's all." He moved the scanner to the side of my neck, pushing my hair away and I shrank back. He pulled back quickly, surprised at my quick reaction, but then moved it slowly towards me again, not touching skin.

"But that's just it," I started slowly. "You found me. You took the care and energy to heal me, then I must belong to you, Sir."

"I don't want you," he said simply, pulling the scanner away and moving across the room to place it back on the table.

I sat in the bed, shocked. "You would rather me be killed instead of simply taking me?"

At that, he turned to look at me. "Who said anything about being killed?"

"The rules state that if a slave does not belong to a man and is not going to be sold, then they are wasted space and must be done away with."

"They kill people for just…being in the way?" he said slowly.

I nodded. "It gives slaves initiative to do their jobs correctly. It does not always work."

And then I realized: I couldn't talk to him this way. This was against the rules. This was not right.

I ducked my head down and murmured, "I apologize for speaking so candidly to you, Sir."

"No, no, candidly is good, I—" he stopped as a beeping noise came out of his belt. He flipped open the devide. "Mccoy here."

"Doctor, you're needed on Deck 9," a female voice rang out.

He rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself, "If this is another prank, I swear to God—" he stopped before he left, looking back at me. "I'll be back later. There's a PADD on the table that I loaded with some stuff you might be interested in, if you like to read. But try to rest, if you can."

And he was gone.

I reached over for the PADD, amazed at the difference in the pain levels between now and earlier. I felt so much better. But as I leaned over to reach the table, I caught a view of my arm.

The bruises and scarring—gone.

Completely.

I searched under my hospital gown as well. Everything was healed.

How did he do this?

I assumed this was the second scanner's doing, but, _how_? How did these people have this kind of medical power? To get rid of years of scars and scrapes and bruising, and not even feel it leave the body?

I wondered if I could ever ask the doctor about the methods on board. Maybe he would be alright with it…after all, he did say that candid was a good thing.

I set the PADD in my lap and tried to maneuver it the best I could. I didn't really understand the controls, but I didn't have too much trouble. You simply touched what you wanted to read. There were twenty or so titles pertaining to different subjects, and I pushed down on the one that read _The Marvels of Modern Medical Science_.

Maybe now I could get some answers.

It would feel good to learn again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello lovelies :) Thank you all so much for the follows/favorites/and reviews! I pretty much fangirl over every response I get, haha. Reviews are always helpful, or if you have an idea for the story, just PM me! I always love getting inspiration. Hope you like Chapter 3!  
Georgia**  
-

The shadows crawled around the aging walls. A cold wind brushed through my hair, and I shivered at its bitter touch.

"_I'm coming, sweetheart."_

_The voice echoed ominously in the darkness of the barn and I pulled uselessly against the binds that held me to one of the posts. It couldn't happen. Not again._

"_Here I come," it taunted. I pulled harder as tears stung my eyes and the rope cut into my wrists. _

_It couldn't happen again._

_Oh, god. _

_More struggling. _

_Lips on my ear whispered "Ready, little girl?"_

I woke up to the sound of screaming ringing in my ears, and a hand on my arm.

"Let go!" I yelled, pulling against the darkness that held me under. "No!"

"Eden, you've got to calm down, goddamn it!"

"Let me go!"

"It's Mccoy, you're on the Enterprise!"

I stopped. My heart still raced. My hair stuck to my neck.

I was in bed, in sickbay, with the doctor.

My hands shook as I looked at him.

_Echo's not here, _I said to myself. _He's not here._

"I—I'm—I'm sorry," I whispered.

He let out a long breath and closed his eyes. "Whatever was going on in your head, it must've been terrifying, because you sure as hell scared me."

I pulled my arm out of his grip and placed my hands in my lap. "Sorry I woke you, Sir."

He got up from his sitting position and stared at me, unsure. "Do you need to talk about it?"

I shook my head.

"You want some water?"

I shook my head.

"You want me to get someone? Uhura? Spock?"

I paused. "Don't disturb them."

Neither of us spoke, but he didn't leave like I assumed he would. I guessed that it was in the early hours of the morning; the heavy bags under his eyes told that much. I didn't know why he stayed.

"What happened to you," he asked, finally looking me in the eyes. My focus flickered toward him for a half second. "You weren't always like this. I know you weren't. You're too smart."

Trying not to cry, I bit my tongue down. "I—I—I can't." I shook my head. "I can't talk about it. I can't bring it back."

"Bringing it back will make you heal faster, Eden. Pushing it down doesn't help you in the long run."

"It's helping now," I snapped. I looked back down at my hands. "Sir."

"Stop that. It's Mccoy, alright?"

I nodded obediently. "I'm sorry I woke you. Don't let me keep you up."

"You're not keeping me up, you're my job. Come on now, we'll start with simple questions, okay? Yes or no?"

I nodded. Helpless to the situation.

"You were a slave?"

"Yes."

"You were born on earth, not a slave?"

I nodded. "In America. Alabama."

He smiled to himself, "I'm from Georgia. Look how much we've got in common already."

In all honesty, I very barely remembered where Georgia even _was_. And he had seemed to hold onto his accent; mine had disappeared very early on.

He started again. "You were taken when you were…nine?"

"Eleven."

"How old are you now?"

"Nineteen."

He played with the hem of the sheets on my bed as he talked. "You were taken by someone named Echo?"

The name struck chills in me, and I felt my head get lighter. "How did you know that."

"You were screaming it in your sleep."

I paused. "He wasn't my first owner, but he was my worst."

The doctor seemed pleasantly surprised that I decided to talk on my own.

"His family didn't know I existed," I continued, stuttering occasionally over the harder parts, "he kept me in their barn. He was a farmer. And he said that if I ever told anyone I was up there he'd kill me, and then he'd go back and kill my family because he knew where they were."

"Surely he couldn't keep you up there all the time,"

"No. Which is why he'd rent me out to people in his village during the day."

His face was grim as he said quietly, "You were the biggest secret in town, weren't you."

I nodded. "It was a game to them, I guess. I wasn't a normal prostitute. They loved the fact that I didn't want them but they wanted me." I added quietly, "That's what I thought you were doing last night."

Somber, he looked up at me. "You know that no one on this ship would ever treat you like that, don't you?

"I don't know. I haven't known anything else in a long time."

My stomach seemed to lurch and I felt my throat get tight. The panic was vibrant in my eyes as I started heaving. "I need—"

The doctor ran to grab a container and brought it up to my lips just before I vomited. I closed my eyes in defeat.

"It's okay. It's alright, it's a lot to deal with." He didn't make a move to touch me in a comforting way, and for that I was grateful. It was enough that he cared to listen.

It was a miracle in itself that he had gotten me to talk.

He got up, replacing the container with a cloth, and handed it to me. "Press it down on your forehead. You'll feel better."

I laid back down and did as he said, feeling myself being pumped with more medication and falling deeper and deeper into sleep.

I thought to tell him goodnight, but was asleep before the words left my lips.  
-

"Wake up," I heard a voice say from far off. "Come on, wake up."

My world came whirring back to life. I lifted up my head and opened my eyes, meeting the doctor's.

I shrank back into the coolness of the sheets and stared.

"I have to run an iron count test. Sorry I woke you. And good morning, too."

He moved around the clean, sterile room gracefully, knowing where each and every medical tool resided. As he grasped various things from drawers, I knotted the sheets in my fingers. The air from the vent hit exactly where I was lying, and I felt like I couldn't very well ask them to turn it _off_.

So I waited, shivering. Both from the cold and from his presence.

Once he finished gathering his things, he set a tray next to my bed. He held a hand out. "Can I have your arm?"

Gingerly, I reached out. He grasped my wrist with his fingers and turned my arm over, revealing the blue veins and some of the bruises. His grip was gentler than I expected, like it wasn't even there. My body, however, reacted like it did to the people who hurt me: my hands shook like leaves.

He looked away from my arm for a moment to look up at me. "Steady now, steady," he said quietly. "Not gonna hurt you."

I nodded. I didn't really trust him yet, but I knew. I couldn't, however, seem to turn off my body's defense systems.

He grasped a cool wipe and ran it along the fold of my elbow. As he worked, I asked in a small voice, "What does that do?"

"Cleans it off. Makes sure no dirt's on the skin before it's exposed."

He got rid of the wipe and reached for a rubbery looking band on his tray. "This keeps the blood flow in your arm…it's gonna be tight, but not awful."

Again he grasped my arm—this time the top of it—and tied the band around it. I grunted quietly but didn't complain. The rubber felt sticky on my skin.

"I have to take a blood sample, so I'm gonna have to prick you, but it won't hurt once it's in there."

I eyed the needle on the tray. I had figured as much. There were other needles in my skin—the IVs—but I hadn't been conscious for those.f

Great.

He loaded the needle in and moved to set it near my arm, but stopped.

"You don't have to look, you know. It helps some people if they don't."

Nodding, I looked over into the darkened hallway. My arm was tensed, worse than before, because now I didn't know when it was coming.

The needle punctured skin and I shut my eyes tightly and hid my face in my neck. I didn't shout, or cry, or do anything that he was expecting.

I just waited.

Careful not to look at the needle lodged in my skin, I looked up at him. He gave me a comforting ghost of a smile. "You're doing better than most people."

My lips were pursed. "Thank you, Sir."

He made a move to correct me on calling him 'sir', but decided against it. As I waited for the tube to fill, I felt his fingertips running gently along the edge of my wrist. It was almost…_nice_.

"Almost done."

And before he had hardly finished his sentence, he pulled the needle out, and checked the measurement on the tube he had taken.

"Not bad, Eden. You're a better patient than sixty percent of this ship." He moved to put his tools away. "Remind me to tell you about the time Kirk avoided me for _three weeks _and I had to go give him boosters in the lunch hall."

I laughed quietly.

He gave me a look and said, "There it is. First laugh on the Enterprise."

Blood rushed to my face as I smiled to myself.

"I loaded some more medical journals on the PADD over there. Thought you might wanna go through them, since you finished the others."

I wanted to pose the question of how he had known I finished them, but decided against it. "I will, thank you."

We were beginning to get along.


	4. Chapter 4

As time went on, the doctor was more patient that I was expecting. Three days had passed, and I was still trapped in sickbay.

"You hungry?"

I bit my lip, knotting the quilt in my weak fingers. He had changed my medication again. Lighter and lighter, every day. Soon I'd be finished with it for good, but today, I could still feel it. Over the past few days, I had been making the transition from nutrients in my IV to actual solids. It was hard, after being malnourished for so long, to go back to real, physical _food_.

Echo had given me bread, and the occasional bad vegetables from the crops. Never what his family actually _ate_.

"Come on, Eden, you have to eat."

My eyes flicked up. I nodded, barely.

"What do you want?" he stepped over to the side of the bed. "Soup?"

Again, I nodded. I moved my head a fraction of an inch. The truth was I was starving, but I would never admit it to him.

Slaves had not been allowed to ask for food; the idea that I could do so was still foreign.

A blonde nurse stepped over and asked in a mousey voice if he wanted her to go prepare it.

He declined.

Over the past few days, I was curious as to why he had been present so often. He wasn't really doing anything that had to do with me—he would just sit and write at the desk in the corner of the room, even though I was sure he had an office somewhere on the deck. Sometimes he'd ask me a question. More often that not, though, he'd be quiet, typing information into the computer and I'd be reading more medical texts.

Surely he had other patients to treat?

He returned, holding a tray with a bowl of steaming broth set on top. "Here," he said, moving to place it in my lap before I grasped it from him instead. "Thank you," I said quietly, setting it down.

He moved back to his desk, and kept working before he looked up at me. I hadn't touched it yet.

"Go on," he said.

I wasn't looking at him.

"Eden, I don't want to pump it into your IV again. _Eat_."

"I have permission to start?"

He rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Nothing would make me happier, now, go on." He mumbled something under his breath and went back to his work.

I wondered silently if I was bothering him. He was so _strange_. But I didn't dare ask.

I wanted him to be happy with me, not because I cared particularly about his wellbeing—I just didn't want him angry.

I shook the thoughts off and started eating. Slowly, I brought the spoon to my lips, enjoying the warmth of the liquid and the slight tang of salt.

"I'm glad you're a morning person," he said, sipping his coffee. "You're not bad company."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Mccoy. It's Mccoy," he sighed.

His easygoing manner caught me off-guard. He hadn't even looked up from his desk as he said the words.

I nodded, responding, "I'm sorry—thank you, _Mccoy_."

"Don't apologize."

Again, off-handedly.

As I ate, I pulled the PADD to my side and started to read about the basic chemical makeup of blood in different species. I had forgotten how much I loved anatomy and physiology. It was so…_interesting_.

Every so often, I'd get confused, and ask the doctor a question about the subject, and he was more than happy to answer anything I wasn't sure on.

I was thriving here.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was still reading when I heard the doors to the room slide open. I assumed it was the nurse coming back to make sure I had settled into my new clothes. She had given me a loose purple shirt and comfortable black pants, saying that it would help me feel like I was actually getting better.

"I just came up to see how you were doing." I was surprised to see the captain, standing a safe distance away. "How do you feel?"

"Much better." I looked down at my hands, surprised at his quick entrance. "Thank you, Sir."

"You've gotta be tired of sitting around here all day."

I answered slowly. "It's nice, actually. I appreciate the quiet."

"Hmm, I see." His eyes gleamed and I knew he was up to something. "I was wondering, how you'd feel about getting out of here for a little while?"

"Out?"

"You know, see the ship? You want to?"

In all honesty, my answer was a wholehearted _yes_. But I wasn't sure if it was alright, or if the doctor had approved me walking yet.

"I'm not sure if it's alright—"

"Oh, it's fine. I'm the captain, remember? Come on, don't you want to?" he smiled, and it was so exuberant and boyish that I had to stop myself from laughing with him.

He was so—so like Cameron. I felt at ease with him.

"There's a wheelchair you can use, you don't even have to walk."

I smiled, excited at the idea to explore the ship. I started slowly, "I'd love to look around if it doesn't bother you, Sir."

"Not bothering me at all, that's why I came."

I smiled and the captain returned it quickly. "So, are you ready?" he said, reaching for the wheelchair on the far end of the room.

"Sir…surely _you _aren't giving me the tour, I couldn't possibly—"

"Of course I'm giving you the tour. Who else knows the ship like me?"

"Don't you have business to attend to?"

He smiled slyly. "At the moment," he set the wheelchair right beside my bed and smirked, "you _are_ my business, Eden. Now, come on."

It made me nervous sometimes how he looked at me, but I decided that he was harmless. He was the captain, after all.

I lifted myself up slowly, trying not to tear the bandages across my abdomen that had been placed to keep my ribs set in the final stages of healing. My feet barely scraped the floor when he reached to place me in the wheelchair.

I shut my eyes quickly and froze. "Please don't."

He let go immediately.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want you to fall."

"It's fine. Really."

I made it into the wheelchair slowly, and finally, we were off. My first time out of sickbay, and I was ready to see the grand ship that I had been hearing about so much.

"Anywhere you want to see in particular?" he said, keeping pace next to me as I drove down the narrow hallway.

"All of it."

He laughed at my excitement, and as he showed me around decks six and seven, my mind was reeling with all the technology that existed on this ship. I asked him questions constantly, and he responded with patient answers in kind. Every so often I spied him looking at me out of the corner of my eye, but I told myself that it must simply be that he was checking to make sure I didn't look ill.

"Do you want to see where you'll stay once you're well?"

"I'm staying here?"

"Of course," he said, keeping pace beside me. "You're with us, now, until you're placed somewhere."

I nodded, feeling happy that I had a place to stay, and he led me up to deck nine.

We stopped in front of room 9443.

My heart almost stopped.

I had a place to call my own, even if for just a little while. Finally.

The doors slid open in front of me and I was met with a room that had purple walls, a bed that could fit three of me, a dresser and a mirror. "It's perfect. Like nothing I've ever seen before."

"I'm glad you like it."

I sighed and looked around once more. "It's like something out of a dream. Honestly—"

And then it happened.

And I felt like I couldn't breathe.

A blue light started flashing from underneath my jaw, just below my ear, and a high pitched noise filled the room. My eyes widened. "Get the Doctor," I said quickly. "Hurry, hurry, please hurry."

He didn't know what to do at first, it all happened so fast. He looked at me and then at his communicator. "Bones, get down to 9443 as fast as you can," he yelled over the loud noise.

"I can't just—"

"It's an emergency, run, dammit!" He slammed his communicator closed and knelt down to my level. I was shaking again. They were coming for me.

He grabbed my hands but I pulled away just as quickly. "What is it?"

I shook my head as tears began appearing. "Don't let them take me, don't let them."

"Don't let who?"

I couldn't seem to get any air in my lungs. "I can't breathe." I gripped the handles on my wheelchair. "I can't breathe."

The beeping wouldn't stop, and the light looked ghostly reflecting off his face. "You've got to calm down, you're going to hurt yourself."

"I can't, help me, help me, help me!"

Without warning, he pulled me up off the wheel chair. I screamed and writhed, but just as soon, he laid me down in the bed. "Calm down, Eden, it's going to be alright. Bones is almost here."

I laid crumpled on the bed, wheezing. The noise rang in my ears.

The doors slid open, but it wasn't the doctor; it was Spock, who moved quickly and with purpose.

"Help me, please, please, help me!" I reached out to Spock who moved to look at the device in my neck. "Don't let them take me back," I sobbed.

He stood at the edge of the bed, looking down at me. "They will not take you back. They do not have the authorization. You must calm yourself."

I coughed as he spoke, feeling the dull pain in my side. I nodded, but my teeth still chattered as we waited for the doctor and the scanner kept ringing.

The doors slipped open.

"What the hell is that thing?" he said, opening the medical kit. "And how do you turn it off?"

It was cold, so cold. My teeth were chattering and I couldn't feel my feet.

"It's a tracking device," Spock said evenly. "Her previous owners are trying to locate her, and currently already have her exact longitude and latitude to put into their systems."

My bottom lip was raw from chewing it. I couldn't go back. I couldn't. I wouldn't.

"They can't actually take her back now?" the captain asked.

As the doctor pulled his scanner out of the bag, Spock answered, "No, they cannot, but that does not mean they will not try."

He ran it over my neck and I tried to breathe. My fear felt like it was swallowing me. "Goddammit, this is what I didn't want to happen. Why the hell did you take her out of sickbay, Jim? I didn't want her heart rate up!"

"You think I knew this was gonna happen?"

McCoy huffed and looked back at me. "Just calm down, it's gonna be alright. I need your blood pressure to go down."

I nodded and closed my eyes, but every time I did, I saw myself being dragged onto Echo's ship. "I can't—help me, please, don't let them take me."

"No one's taking you anywhere," Kirk assured me.

"I can't breathe, I'm so scared, help me," I yelled over the noise before a fit of coughs overtook me.

Fingertips were pressed to my temple suddenly, and I felt Spock in my mind.

Peace and order flooded in from the connection, and I could breathe again.

I saw the panic overtake his mind and his face changed, but only for a moment.

He pushed peace and unity and logic toward me—and I took it. I began to breathe slower, and my tears dried themselves. I sniffed as the only noise in the room was gone as he released his touch.

"It's gone," I whispered.

Spock nodded. "They found what they wanted. But they will not get what they are coming for."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**I hope you guys liked it! Please leave reviews, they give me a lot more motivation to write, haha :)  
Georgia**


	5. Chapter 5

We walked back in silence, the three of them leading the way and myself following behind in the wheelchair at a distance.

I didn't speak as the Captain and Spock were ushered away on official business.

I didn't speak as I got back into bed, pulling the blankets up over my shoulders.

I didn't even _think_. I was just—frozen.

"He's not taking you back. You know that, don't you?"

Mccoy's voice filtered across the room from his desk and I realized I hadn't even noticed he was there.

My body tensed. I folded in on myself.

"Eden?"

When I opened my eyes, I saw the doctor standing next to me, and I wondered how long and when I'd fallen asleep.

"Listen, wake up for a minute," he said.

Opening my eyes fully, I involuntarily moved away from him by a fraction of an inch.

"I'm gonna take the tracking device out of your neck. You'll be asleep the whole time, but I need to give you an injection to put you out."

I spied the needle he held in his hands, sharp and dangerous and quick.

As he reached for my arm, however, I pulled it into my chest tighter. My brow creased. "Don't—don't do that."

He looked indignant for a moment. "Why?"

"Because hypos render a person completely unconscious for certain amounts of time, and I can't be unconscious." I spouted off the definition from one of the medical texts, quickly but nervously.

"Mind telling me _why_?" he said. If there was any doubt he was annoyed before, he certainly was now.

At that moment, I recognized my wrong move and stopped. I finished quietly, "Because...you're here, Sir."

He sighed, stepping back, giving me space to breathe. "You know I'm just gonna take out the tracking device and let you sleep the rest of the drug off. That's it."

My breathing picked up slightly. I wasn't done fighting, but I knew I shouldn't have said anything at all. "Yes Sir," I said. It was like a war in my mind, trying to choose whether to fight for what I wanted or to submit.

I know what I would have done with Echo.

Why then, would it _ever _be alright to fight with the doctor? He was just as much a master to me as Echo was. I was getting too comfortable.

I gripped the sheets tightly as I murmured, "I'm sorry for my outburst."

His brow creased. "Outburst? That was far from an outburst."

I didn't say anything.

"I know it's not easy to trust me, but we can't just leave it. You don't want them tracking you, and neither do we."

I nodded.

My actions were simple and minimal.

"It won't take more than fifteen minutes. I'll give you a light dose, you'll be back up in a half hour."

Nodding, nodding, always nodding.

"Is that alright with you?" he asked, noticing that I had seemed to shut down.

"Yes Sir," I said. No opinion.

He looked troubled for a moment, but then moved the needle to my neck.

Everything went dark.

* * *

"Eden?" the Captain said, walking towards me.

I sat up in bed, setting the PADD down next to me. Absentmindedly, I ran my fingers along the small bumps on my neck that were the aftermath of my semi-surgery the day before.

I found quickly that the doctor had stayed true to his word.

"I need to talk to you about something."

Something was wrong; I could sense it almost immediately. Something about his eyes or his walk, or the way his boyish charm from previous days was missing. He grabbed the chair from the doctor's desk and rolled it to the side of my bed.

My heart seemed to find its way into my throat.

I knew it was bad news.

"I need you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say."

I nodded. Eyes wide, waiting.

"There's no need to panic, because you're completely safe, alright?"

I felt like I was going to panic if he didn't tell me _now_.

"Last night, around 03:00, Echo hailed us."

I froze. My breath stuck in my lungs. It was suddenly hot in the room, and my head felt lighter than air.

When he spoke again, he seemed further away than he really was. "He can't take you back, Eden. We're with Starfleet. He has zero rights."

Biting my tongue, I tried my best to keep from falling apart completely in his presence.

"But, we took him into custody for illegal trafficking in Federation territory. He's on board. Deck two."

My stomach dropped. "Why?" I said, quietly shocked. "Why didn't you just kill him?"

He sighed, and I watched his official stance fade away quickly. "I wish I could've. But we have to give him a fair trial."

"He doesn't deserve fair."

"I know." He moved to hold my hand but I pulled away. "I know how you feel."

I shook my head. "Don't."

"It's impossible for him to—"

I felt tears welling up and I didn't want him, or anyone, to see them. "Please, just go."

Another voice joined us. "Jim, let me handle this."

The captain looked at me before shifting his focus back to Mccoy. He nodded, getting up. "Fine." He looked back once more before he left. "I'm sorry, Eden. I am."

I didn't look at him.

Panic fluttered inside me, replacing my previous anger. My stare should've been able to burn a hole in the sheets.

"You're mad, huh?" The doctor had placed himself into the seat Kirk had been using previously.

I nodded.

"Why?"

I bit my lip, deciding not to say anything. I couldn't be indignant; not again. Not after yesterday. So I shrugged.

"Eden, listen," he said, looking me squarely in the eye, teeth gritted. "I want you to tell me _exactly _how you feel. To hell with your crazy formalities. Tell me what you think."

I was taken aback at how candidly he spoke, but I took him up on his offer. "You people," I started off slowly, gaining momentum as I went on, "you put me on a ship, and tell me I'm safe, which was wonderful. And then you bring my _worst nightmare _and you make him my neighbor? Why would you do that?"

He nodded, not disturbed in the least by my anger. "We told you we'd protect you, give you a safe place, and then he waltzes right into that same safe spot. And you're mad."

I nodded.

Leaning closer, he talked low. "But listen to me when I say this: this ship will _burn _before we let anything happen to you." He paused. "You're being moved to my quarters to sleep. You're stable enough to get out of here, but we don't want you alone in a room when there's a madman anywhere near here."

I still hadn't looked back up at him. "It's just—I appreciate your efforts, but—he's so _close_, Sir. I could be asleep, and he could be directly twenty decks below me. It's terrifying."

"Starfleet can do more to punish him than we ever could, rest assured. That's why he's here."

I nodded, still completely unconvinced but not telling him that.

And then something clicked.

"I—I'm being moved—with you?"

"For the time being. So I can keep an eye on your condition and so you wouldn't be in a room alone. Spock's idea."

_No_, I thought ruefully to myself. _It's because I'm finally well enough to do what he wants_.

I didn't say that, however. "Thank you for your courtesy, Sir." My old habits bit back my new feelings of safety, like gears in an old machine. Habits. "I'll do my best to keep you happy—"

His eyes changed. "No, no, no," he said pointedly. "That's not why you're staying. Forget that."

I looked down at my hands. He was lying, of course. "Yes, Sir."

"And don't call me, Sir!" he said, leaving the room.

I laid back down, folding into myself.

We would see how trustworthy he was.  
-

* * *

**Oooooh, what's gonna happen? You'll all have to wait for the next chapter to find out! Thanks to all my lovely readers/reviewers/favoriters/followers for being amazing. I'm glad a lot of you seem to like this story!  
Georgia**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, wonderful readers! Just a heads up, this is probably one of my favorite chapters I've ever written, but just a warning: this may trigger my panic attack peeps, because Eden does have a full blown panic attack during the course of this chapter. So yeah, just trying to give you a heads up!  
Thanks for all the reviews/follows/favorites, as always. They really make my day!  
Georgia  
**

* * *

Softly, I followed behind the doctor into his quarters. I was nervous, and trying to ground myself; my hands gripped my nightclothes much tighter than I needed to.

"So, this is it. It's not much, but it's something."

I entered a room that was cleaner than clean. Blue carpet and seemingly random but careful artwork scattered on the red walls. In the center of the room was his bed, next to it a neat end table, and finally a desk with a small lamp hidden in an alcove on the side of the room. A small cot was set up a few feet away from his bed, with two crisp, white pillows sitting at the top.

In comparison, I felt like a tornado. Messy hair and dried sweat on my neck, scabbed knees, and a shirt so large it threatened to fall over my shoulder.

Standing in the doorway, I felt conspicuously out of place.

"Well, come on." He stepped over to me, took the clothes out of my hand and gestured towards another room connected to this one. "Why don't you go take a shower? You might feel better."

I nodded, looking down at the plush carpet, and followed him into the bathroom. The room was cold, the tiles uniform, the towels pressed. Everything in perfect order, just like him.

"I guess one of the nurses already taught you how to work the shower, right?"

"Yes sir."

My eyes were straight ahead. Like they should be.

He sighed.

"Let me know if you need anything."

And then he was gone.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, I found the doctor already changed into a loose brown shirt and black pants, and was hunched over the desk working on a medical chart of some kind. "I'm finished," I said quietly. I stood in front of the doorway to the bathroom—I didn't know where exactly to go.

He turned and looked over at me, eyes narrowing. "That was fast."

"I tried."

He looked confused for a half moment, but the look disappeared before he could reveal anything. "Have a seat, we need to a talk," he said, pointing lazily toward the cot.

This was it, then. This was the moment when I'd find out if he'd brought me here for the reason I suspected.

As I stepped over towards him, I sat down hesitantly. Both feet on the floor. Arms tucked into my stomach. Head down.

"Did I do something wrong?" My voice whispered, breaking the silence we were framed in.

Sighing, he took a seat on his bed, which was across from me. The bed groaned quietly under his weight. "Listen, you don't belong to me. You don't have to call me 'sir', okay? You're staying in my room to be _safe _from this maniac, not because you're mine. You understand that?"

"But I do belong to you. You found me."

"You don't!"

His eyes were burning into me when I flickered my gaze up, but I only bit my lip in response. "I'm sorry if I'm causing you trouble. And I'm sorry I'm invading your privacy."

He relaxed, sighing again. "Darlin', you're not invading my privacy, I don't mind you. I just don't want you paranoid all night, because I know you are right now." He paused, reflecting. "It's not bad to have another warm body in here anyway. It's been a long time."

He looked over at the single photograph that sat on his dresser. It was a photo of him holding a little girl in his arms, smiling broadly in a way that I had never seen. "Is that your daughter?" My voice drifted across the icy silence, like a soft breeze.

He nodded, grimacing.

"You miss her."

"Every damn minute of every damn day."

I sat up for a moment to look him in the face. "You're lonely. Aren't you."

He tore his focus from the photo and looked back at me squarely. He didn't answer for a moment.

He nodded slowly. "Sometimes."

I looked back down and willed myself to not be afraid of this man—this lonely man who only wanted someone else to stand with him for _once_. To _stay_.

But I knew that I couldn't do it. I was too afraid of him. Of everyone.

But I did know one thing I could give him.

"Sir—"

"Leo. I want to be called Leo."

The word tumbled over my tongue in a foreign way. "Leo. I was wondering if—if you wanted me to—I could read to you? I used to be hired sometimes to read to infants, to put them to sleep. Maybe it would help you not be lonely."

He smiled vaguely, not looking at me. "Reading. Hmm. Why not."

Getting up from his seat, the doctor grasped a thick volume of something from underneath his end table and handed it back to me.

"Great Expectations. Charles Dickens. You ever read it?"

I shook my head.

"One of Earth's great writers. Written a long, long time ago." He moved to the head of the bed and pushed himself under the sheets, head finding its way to the pillow before long. "It'd sound good with your voice."

I opened up the novel and scanned it. The words were beautiful, pristine, exact. I hadn't seen a real book in years, and this was like a gift.

"Chapter One."

He was watching me, one arm under his pillow, the other close to his chest. Brown eyes, waiting.

"My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip."

* * *

"Wake up, Eden, wake up. It's okay, it's not real, listen to me."

My eyes snapped open and Leo's lips were near my ear. His other hand was on my neck, taking my pulse.

I pushed away weakly but he pushed me back down into the mattress with a gentle force that was not to be reckoned with. The air in my lungs was forced and I felt pain in my chest.

"I can't breathe, I can't breathe," I gasped, grasping his arm. Grasping onto anything that would keep me _here_. "I need to get up, let me get up, I have to get up."

Echo was here. He was coming, I _knew _he was coming. I could almost hear faint footsteps in my mind, and his voice teasing me.

A voice came from far away. "Listen, it's Leo, everything's gonna be okay." He left my pulse and grabbed me easily under the arms as if I was a rag doll, pulling me up to sit in his lap. Tears were streaming down my face as I gasped. His voice came from behind me into my ear and his hands rested on my arms, massaging them.

"I need you to breathe, honey, okay? Breathe in," I took a strangled breath in, shaking and shivering, "Breathe out."

I coughed out the exhale. "Don't leave, please help me." I was screaming now. Hysterics. "Make it stop, please, I don't like it. Don't let him, don't let him,"

He rubbed my arms more. "It's gonna be alright. Everything's okay. I'm right here, I'm not leaving." He pinched my right arm slightly. "See? You're still here. You're sitting with me. I'm a doctor, and nothing's gonna happen to you, okay darlin?"

"Leo—Leo—"

"It'll pass," I felt his chest against my back, and I leaned into him. "It'll pass soon." He led me in more breathing exercises that seemed to work, little by little. "Inhale and hold it...there you go, darlin'. Now let it out. Slowly." He stopped, and said, "You know how many people die of panic attacks every year, Eden?"

I gasped. "How—how—how many?"

"None." I was trying to breathe, trying to _focus _on what he was saying but it was hard. "Let's talk about something else, okay?"

I nodded furiously. Everything I did was intensified so I could feel it.

"You know, I was looking through my med journals, and I think you might want to read a book I found."

"Please, Leo—"

His voice was even, smooth, easy into my ear. "Shhhh, listen. It's about the behavioral patterns of children raised in different backgrounds and planets. Thought you might like it."

I nodded, still shivering. Trying to catch every detail and piece of his voice, just to give me something to hold on to.

"You know what? Maybe, if we go on shore leave soon, you could come to Georgia with me. Would you like that?"

I nodded. I was beginning to calm down. I could breathe again. The pain was subsiding. And Leo was being kinder and gentler than I'd ever seen him before. Light, lazy circles on my arms, soft whispers in my ear about Georgia sunrises and the smell of cornfields and how, if we went there, he'd take me to see the waterfall he had slept under frequently as a child.

I was almost calm as he finished talking about how the fireflies gathered by the water in his backyard, and if you were quick enough, you could catch them and keep them in a jar. My eyes were heavy.

"Thank you. I'm sorry—"

"Nope," he said, slipping out from behind me. "Don't apologize. You couldn't do anything to prevent that. I'm just glad it happened while you were here so I could help."

I looked down at my still trembling hands. "Thank you."

"If you need anything else, let me know."

I heard him shift back into his bed, and I tunneled back into mine.

And then I realized.

I hadn't been afraid of him.


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing I felt the next morning was the feeling of another thick blanket being draped on top of me. Hazily, I opened my eyes, finding Leo in my field of vision sleepily.

He spoke softly, "Go back to sleep, sorry I woke you."

His southern accent danced in my head dreamily as he pulled the blanket up to my chin in one last movement before he left as quietly as he could.

Just before I fell back into sleeping, I wondered how I had ever deserved this much kindness. And how very, very lucky I was to have it.

* * *

The morning passed slowly. I stayed in Mccoy's room, continuing _Great Expectations_ for as long as I could, but I couldn't deny to anyone that I was _bored_. Tired of staying in one spot for the past week.

I set the book back down on his desk and stopped. Very hesitantly, I devised a plan. A plan that might not work, I admitted to myself, but I had to try.

I stepped out of his quarters after I had changed, and made my way to his workstation.

At that particular moment in time, he was huddled over a test tube, with various liquids sitting around him—precise measurements in every one. He looked older when he concentrated on things, the lines in his forehead and next to his eyes more pronounced. I wondered when the last time he laughed was.

"Can—can I ask you something?" I stared slowly.

"Morning," he hadn't looked up yet. "What do you need?"

"Do you need any help?"

That got his attention, as he looked up unsteadily. "_Help_? Devising a vaccine for Western Pnemonia on Troxi II?"

"No, no, of course not—" I was losing my nerve the longer I went on, "—I just meant, easy things. You know, folding sheets, cleaning surfaces. Nothing important, of course, Si—I mean, Leo." I fiddled with my hands, unsure of his answer. I didn't think he'd get mad. After all, I was asking to _help_.

He smiled halfheartedly as I stumbled over his name. Smoothing down his shirt, he answered, "I don't see how it could hurt anything...go talk to Chapel, she'll give you supplies."

"Thank you." A smile found its way to my own face. "Thank you so much."

And I meant it.

Maybe I would finally have a purpose.

* * *

"Chapel" was a sensible nurse who I remembered as the girl with the mousey voice who sometimes took care of me in medbay when I was in recovery. When I arrived to ask her about the supplies, she shot a stern look at me.

"He wanted you to do _what_?"

I explained it again, getting increasingly nervous. Maybe I had misunderstood. Maybe it had been a joke.

"Huh." She looked at her PADD, entering a few things, then looked back at me. "Come back tomorrow, I'll set out a list and some supplies for you."

I nodded, turning away to leave in a hurry from her workstation.

"Wait."

I stopped.

"...How's it been, in his room?"

My shoulders tensed, and I felt my chest tighten. Slowly, I faced her. "Fine, thank you."

A smug look crossed her features as she crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. "Sounded busy last night while I was on my nightshift."

I didn't meet her eyes. "I have to go," I said quickly, my eyebrows knotting together, and leaving.

And just before I left, I looked back; she stood, pleased with herself.

* * *

I wandered around the ship until I managed to find the ship's library on the 11th deck that Kirk had shown me on the day of our tour. It felt like days and days ago, even though it hadn't been very long at all.

The walls were lines with books, and though it wasn't a large library, it was enough to send shivers through me. So much knowledge. And it was _here_. Open for me to touch and explore and tangibly _feel _without anyone who would want to catch or punish me for getting to it. I looked forward to the chance of forgetting what had happened with Chapel and focusing on things that really mattered.

I shuffled over to the medical section, grasped one of the thick volumes, and sat on the couch that was huddled away in the corner of the library.

As time went on, I got lost in it, trying to remember all the details of the circulatory system and treating shock patients and what to do if someone came to you with a second degree burn.

I tried to immerse myself in the subject, now that I would be in medbay. Even if it was just cleaning work, I felt like it would be right to be well-rounded.

"Thought you might be in here."

I looked up, finding Mccoy standing in front of me, and I snapped the book shut. "You—you scared me."

"Sorry," he leaned against one of the shelves, arms crossed. "I heard about what happened with Chapel."

"—How—"

He waved my comment away. "One of the other nurses heard it, she told me." He looked me squarely in the eye, face stern. "Don't let her bother you. She's always been like this...you know, she gets bored sometimes. Tries to stir up trouble."

I nodded. "Yes Sir."

"Leo."

"Leo, Leo—right, I'm so sorry—"

"Don't apologize," he said, standing up straight again. "You hungry?"

* * *

I followed him into the lunch hall closely, trying not to draw any attention to myself. It was the first time in a _long _time that I had been around so many people; crewmen who were hustling and moving around each other to find tables and get food from the replicators.

A few people greeted the doctor, and asked my name, but no one really lingered long enough to make me really feel uncomfortable. It was just so—crowded.

"Lot of people, huh?" I jumped at the voice behind me, finding that it was Kirk who smiled down at me. "Hall's always busy at lunch hour. At dinner people mostly make food in their own rooms."

I nodded, trying to focus on breathing. Looking and acting normal was the utmost priority. I tried to make light conversation to the best of my ability. "Did, um, did you have a nice morning?"

He nodded. "Pretty slow for the most part. You?"

I couldn't quite get myself to meet his curious eyes, but I managed to reply back smoothly, "I found the library again. And one of the nurses in the medbay gave me a cleaning job to do."

"What were you reading, by the way?" Leo asked, turning around finally as we all waited in line.

"Comer's Full Medical Anthology, 2nd Edition."

Looking thoughtful, he replied, "Big book, Comer's. Maybe we can get you a permit for a medical shadowing. You know, show you the ropes a little, if medicine's what you like."

I smiled honestly for the first time in the lunch hall. "Really?"

Kirk finished for him with a glint in his eye. "Yeah, I think it'd be good for you. You'd be a great nurse someday. Maybe give Bones here a run for his money in the old medbay." He punched Leo playfully in the arm and I watched as Mccoy just rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the confidence, Jim. Let's just not forget who patched you up after all those bar fights at the academy."

As they bantered on, I thought to myself how nice this was. How I felt like a real person, included in a conversation for the first time. How they really cared about what I had to say.

I felt almost...normal.


	8. Chapter 8

The next few days passed slowly. We were on a steady path back to Earth for Echo's court date with Starfleet, but it didn't seem to me like we were going fast _enough_.

I didn't like Echo being on the ship. Not at all.

However, I had things to distract me now, which helped more than I thought they would. Chapel didn't bother me again after she gave me the list of duties in the medbay, and I cherished my time folding sheets and cleaning the floors. I liked to have a _purpose_, even if no one really noticed me.

I didn't usually run into the doctor during the day, unless I was to seek him out for a purpose. He kept busy with patients and paperwork, but I would always see him just before I fell asleep in his room, always just about to nod off while reading before he entered. He would always stumble in late at night, exhausted and hungry, but I learned quickly what his habits were. I tried to leave him a tray of something before I went to sleep, just to be helpful.

He made it very clear that I didn't have to do this; that he didn't _own me_ and that I should do whatever I damn well please with my own life.

I said I was just trying to be nice.

I really only wanted to repay him for all the kindness he offered me.

My panic episodes hadn't come back since the first night, and I felt safe with the doctor's constant breathing from the other side of the room. I was beginning to feel a sense of safety every time he was around. Obviously, doubts still poisoned my mind if he moved too fast towards me or got too close when I wasn't expecting it. But he was alright, and learning quickly what I could handle and what I could not. I was beginning to like him.

After a few days, I stopped worrying about Echo completely. He was far away, and couldn't possibly hurt me, as the doctor had always insisted. I wouldn't even know he had ever been on the ship.

Until one day, when I was forced to notice.

* * *

The library was cool. I pulled my sweater over my head and huddled in the material as I continued pounding away at _Study of Vulcan Anatomy_. It had become a habit of mine to spend my time after working at the medbay here, in the library, trying to learn more about medicine and healing techniques. Leo had offered me PADDs, but I declined politely. There was something about the old, paper books. Something—rich, and archaic, and wise.

"Afternoon, Eden."

I looked up to find Leo and Kirk walking towards me, and I grinned at their unexpected appearances. "Hello," I said, shutting the book I was working on. "How are you both?" My smile faded fast as I saw the uncomfortable look they exchanged.

Leo took a seat next to me while Kirk grabbed a chair from the opposite end of the room. Once he was settled, the captain explained, "Look, what Starfleet wants isn't my idea, alright?"

My stomach dropped. They wanted me to go back with him. Just when I was starting to feel secure—they were sending me back. I waited for more explanation, shaking my head the whole time. "Don't—don't—don't send me back, please—"

"No," Leo interjected, just barely touching my arm through the thick sweater. "It's nothing like that."

Kirk continued awkwardly. "Starfleet can't accept the case until you positively identify Echo as the man who was abusing you."

"Don't you believe me?" I offered desperately.

"You don't know who we have down there. Could be anybody. You have to confirm we have the right guy before they sentence him to anything in court."

My mouth felt dry as I tried to process the information they gave me. "I can't see him, he'll be awful—"

Leo interrupted smoothly. "He won't be allowed to talk to you. You just have to walk in, say it's him, and leave. That's all." The look in his eye was the same as when he had first met me, as if he was approaching a hurt animal. Cautious. Calm. Quiet.

I licked my lips as I avoided eye contact with them. "When?"

"Tomorrow morning," Kirk said.

* * *

"No, no, _no!_" I shouted, kicking off the sheets, and knowing that I was having another attack. I thought I was finished with these; I had been doing so well before now. "Please, no—_stop, _please!" I could feel myself being taken under, but I couldn't move my arms or legs. It was like my mind had woken up before my body.

Suddenly, Echo's hideous face flashed directly in front of mine.

"_Get away, no! No!_"

I felt hands on my face, fingers gripping tightly.

"Eden, listen to me, wake up!"

I heard a voice far away. I was trying to swim to it, but the current felt too strong. Too many waves of fear in too many directions.

"Eden, it's just a dream, I need you to wake up."

My body snapped to attention all at once and I opened my eyes. It hadn't been Echo's face in front of me.

It was Leo's.

"He's here," I gasped, "He's so close, he's going to take me." Reaching up towards him, I wrapped my arms around his chest, hiding my head in his neck. Like I had done with Cameron all those years ago. It was habit, mostly. A gesture I reserved for only people that I trusted.

I hadn't realized that I trusted him so much, until that moment.

The smell of coffee and clean soap radiated off him. He was taking those steady breaths that always made me feel calm if I woke up during the night.

"Hey, hey, listen to me," he spoke slowly, holding my shaking frame around the small of my back. "He _can't _get to you. His doors are locked, surrounded by security, and eight decks below us. Even if he could get out, he doesn't know where you are. And even if he could know, our door is locked. And even if it wasn't—I'm right here. And I could take that old man out any day."

I grabbed onto him tighter. "Don't let him take me."

"I won't, darlin'. It's alright. No one's taking you anywhere."

He smoothed down my hair and kissed my forehead gently. As I kept crying, the droplets kept finding their way onto his shirt, no matter how much I tried to wipe them away.

"This isn't like a normal attack, Leo," I whispered, defeated. "This one's real. He's really here. I have to see him tomorrow."

"Well then we can't treat it like a normal attack."

I didn't know what he meant, but I sniffed and hugged him closer. "It's just—you said—you said I wouldn't have to—t—to—"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," he held me closer, and I knew he flinched at my words. "I didn't know. You shouldn't _have _to do this." He paused for a moment, thinking over his next words. "You know I'm going with you, right? I wouldn't let you go in with him alone. I'll be there the whole time. It won't even take long."

I nodded, feeling slightly better. He wouldn't let anything happen, would he?

Slowly, he grasped my arms and unhooked them from around him. He scooped up my legs with one arm and placed his other under my back.

"What are you—" And then I stopped.

He was taking me to his bed.

No, no, no.

I thought I could trust him.

My eyes widened and I started squirming like mad. "No, no—stop—don't, please, please don't—"

He almost dropped me, not expecting that reaction. "Calm down," he said harshly. "I'm not trying to attack you, my god."

He set me down gently. I rubbed at my nose. "Then why did you move me?"

"Because," he pulled himself close and got me to lay down next to him. "I'm not treating this like a normal attack."

He moved to snake a protective arm around my shoulders but stopped before he set it down. "May I?"

I nodded, gingerly placing my head in the curve of his neck as he set his hand down.

"I'm sorry," I said so quietly, I wondered if he could hear it.

I moved my legs around the cool sheets, waiting for a response.

"It's alright, darlin'. It's alright. Nobody's gonna hurt you."

The panic in my stomach faded.

I trusted him more than I thought.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello, lovely readers :) This one was a lot of fun to write for me as the author, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Please remember, I _love _getting reviews. Hearing what you liked/didn't like about the chapter helps me write better chapters in the future, so please, don't be shy!  
****Thank you to all of my faithful readers. You are all wonderful, and I am sending you all virtual hugs.  
Georgia**

* * *

Sleep swirled around me, weaving in and out of reality, waiting to pull me back into its grip. But I wasn't going back to sleep—not yet.

I heard a voice speaking quietly from near the bathroom, and I listened without opening my eyes.

"Listen to me, you can't send her in there, I'm telling you—"

"We've already talked about this," came the reply from what I assumed to be a communicator. "I can't do anything about it."

"You have to understand, she's like a PTSD patient. You can't just send her back into the war!"

"Bones—"

"Show her a picture. Video. Anything."

"You know that's not how Starfleet works. We could've hacked the picture to show someone else, or given her the wrong man on the video screen. It has to be a positive, _live _identification."

As I felt my earlier sleepiness fall away, my stomach churned. There was no way I could go back now.

Leo sighed softly. "She's just a kid, Jim. She's nineteen. Only two years older than Chekov, and she's already been through a lifetime of abuse. You're not here to see her screaming in her sleep, or flinching every time I move too quick."

The captain didn't reply.

"It ain't right," he finished.

I noted quietly that when Leo was upset, his accent was thicker.

Silence filled the room for a while, and I thought that maybe the captain had just disconnected the call, but then he answered. "I'm sorry. I am. But this is the only way we can put him on trial. It's this or nothing. It's all I can do."

I screamed in my head, _just kill him_, but Leo didn't say that.

"Alright. Fine," he said, even though he did not sound _fine_. "I'm going with her though, I hope you know that."

"Okay."

They finished the call, and then Leo walked back silently to lie next to me. He didn't touch me, probably for fear of waking me up.

Little did he know, I had to use all of my willpower at that moment not to break down again.

* * *

I sat on the edge of my cot, lacing up the boots that Uhura had given me. She had stopped by earlier, telling me that it would be fine, and that she and others from the crew would be in the lobby of the brig deck before and after the identification. Along with her kind words, she offered me a change of clothes and boots from earth.

I wished I could've thanked her more, but everything seemed to go by in a blur.

But then again, things would go by in a blur for anyone who discovered that they had to face their worst nightmare, who was _supposed_ to be dead but is instead on the same ship they were rescued on.

These kinds of events would to that to anyone.

"Ready?"

Leo had taken the morning off from his shifts at medbay to go with me, and I was thankful for it beyond measure. He waited in the doorway expectantly, watching me finish lacing up the boots.

I nodded, biting my lip.

My breathing picked up as we left the room and started down the hallway towards the elevator. Palms, sweaty.

Staring at the elevator doors, I tried to pick out precise details about it; anything was better than remembering where I was going.

A warm hand brushed at my arm, pulling me out of my distraction.

"It's gonna be fine, alright? Don't let yourself get worked up over this. Nothing's gonna happen."

I nodded, trying to tell myself to _listen _to what he was saying, but his words kept fading away like smoke. The elevator came. We stepped in.

As I kept staring straight ahead, I felt my breathing patterns become erratic. I had read enough medical books by now to know that this was hyperventilation, and that I needed to calm down, but it was _hard_ to listen to even myself.

I could hear Leo speak but couldn't tell what it was that he was saying.

"Eden."

He was in front of me before I noticed he had moved; hands on my shoulders, brown eyes staring.

"Breathe."

I felt my constricted lungs loosen, as I snapped out of my state before I had a full on attack.

I nodded to myself again. "I'm fine."

"You are. You're gonna be fine."

He rubbed my shoulders before I stepped away, drawing myself up. "I'm fine."

After he moved to push a button that resumed the elevator, we made it to the floor quickly.

The doors opened and I found most of the crew that I had met were already down there.

"Morning," Kirk said, bobbing his head in greeting. "I know Bones has probably already told you about what's gonna happen, but I'll just say it again because some Admiral from Starfleet told me I was supposed to."

I gave him a halfhearted smile and listened as he explained again that all I had to do was go in, say clearly that it was Echo, and then leave. That's all.

_Seemed_ easy enough.

"Might as well go now, huh?" Leo said, turning to me.

I nodded.

The two of us began to walk down a narrow hallway, leaving the chatter of the rest of the crew behind. My boots made a heavy sound on the floor as the noise bounced off the ceiling.

"3A, this is it," he said as we finally arrived at a door that would lead us into an observation room of his cell.

I felt cold, but didn't stop moving. Couldn't lose my nerve now; not when I had it barely in my grasp.

I stepped into the bright room, and found Echo behind a thick wall of glass.

He looked unchanged, except for the fact that he was hunched over now, with scarring on various parts of his body—most likely from the crash.

I froze as he turned to look at me with his hungry gaze. My feet were plastered to the ground. I couldn't move or speak or _think _as he began to talk.

"The tables have turned," he said, standing up from his previous position. He moved towards the glass divider and out of habit, I flinched.

Leo stood behind me. "Eden, come on, just say it and we can leave."

I couldn't move. Couldn't think. Couldn't breathe.

"Cat's got the whore's tongue, hmmm?"

"Eden, just _say it_." He sounded more desperate behind me.

But he couldn't make me say it. _I _couldn't make myself say it.

"You always were quiet," he moved around his cage like a predator, waiting to strike, "except when I came to visit. You had something to say then, didn't you...Eden?"

I shook my head, wanting to leave more than anything. I couldn't remember what I was supposed to say. Couldn't remember anything.

"Just say it's him, dammit!" Leo said, almost pleading with me.

Echo's focus shifted to Leo. "You're in a hurry to leave, aren't you, doctor? It seems like Eden doesn't want to leave just yet..." he moved to tilt his head. "Tell me, how do you like her so far? She is talented isn't she?"

And then something broke inside me. I knew what I had to say, but it wasn't an identification.

I walked forward until I was right next to the glass.

I did not yell.

Or scream.

Or pound my fists on the glass, although I desperately wanted to.

I whispered.

"I want you to listen to _me_. If you interrupt me I will personally make sure that the rest of your time on this ship is torture, _do you understand me_?"

He cocked an eyebrow, interested.

I spoke slowly, emphasizing each and every word. "You made me like I am. Afraid of people who don't have the slightest idea why I hate them. You made me feel like I was _less than human_. But I've got news. _I _have the last word now_. _And I don't care if you scream, or cry, or beg for mercy, because you're on your way to die." I banged a quick fist against the glass and he flinched. Fire was in my eyes. "Rot. In. Hell."

I turned around smoothly to face a shocked Leo. "This is Echo Vericon. This is the man."

And just before I exited the room, I looked back at Echo's face. He looked just as horrified as I had so long ago.

"Have a nice death."

I stepped away on my own, leaving Leo to run behind me and lock the doors.

"Eden—Eden, wait—"

But I didn't slow down. I kept walking until he caught up to me.

"What the hell happened in there?"

My mind's gears shifted back to their natural state. It was like a different person had just exited my body.

I didn't look at him. "I don't want to talk about it," I said, moving past him to get back to the elevator.

He grabbed my arm.

Old Eden came back. It was as if I wasn't sure which one I was supposed to be: frightened Eden, safe, comfortable Eden, or the new one that I had only just discovered—the one that had confronted Echo.

They felt like disconnected puzzle pieces.

The one that I had been for the longest returned.

I shrank as he grabbed my arm, and I shut my eyes tightly. "Don't—don't make me go back in," I said quietly.

He realized his mistake and let go.

As soon as he did, I backed myself into a wall and slid down until I met the floor; I pulled my arms into my chest, and tried to make myself as small as I could be. I wasn't sure what was happening in my mind. I rocked back and forth, trying to process something, _anything_.

"No, you're not going back in there," he said to himself, kneeling in front of me. His eyes were kind and gentle as he surveyed my fragile state. "It's a brave thing you just did back there. Not a lot of people could've done that, you know." His voice was steady, like the waves on the shore, and I tried to focus on that instead of all the conflicting feelings I felt coursing through me.

"I don't know—what's wrong with me," I said, starting to break down. My hands were shaking. "I'm sorry,"

"Don't apologize, you've been through an extremely stressful situation, your body's trying to cope. Don't you remember reading about that in Comer's?"

I vaguely remembered reading something like that. Something about the adrenalin making your limbs shake.

"Is it alright if I scan you? I want to check your blood pressure," he said pulling out his tricorder very slowly, trying not to catch me off guard. "In the meantime, why don't you tell me about medical treatment for hypothermia patients."

He scanned me, and I tried my best to keep my voice steady as I could while I explained to him how to bring patients back to a non-frozen state. I knew he was trying to distract me, but it was working, so I went along with it.

I was almost finished when he checked the results. I was still breathing hard, but my mind felt like it had more clarity.

He pulled out his communicator. "Jim, get somebody to bring me water, alright?"

"Got it," was the quick response.

I tried to push my jaws down to stop the shaking through my body, but Leo interrupted me.

"Don't stress anything. Just let it happen. Let it go away in its own time."

I nodded, teeth chattering, hands shaking. Still sitting in the corner of an empty hallway.

As the sound of footsteps neared from the end of the hall, I flinched.

"Just somebody with water for you, darlin', it's alright."

It was, in fact, the captain, carrying two thermoses. "One's water and one's tea, Uhura thought something warm might be good."

Leo took the water filled cup and handed it to me. "Drink it slowly, alright?"

I nodded as he stood up to talk to Kirk.

They didn't say anything to each other at the beginning; they just shared the same look of shock.

Kirk spoke first, quietly, as though I wasn't sitting just below him. The only words I caught were "My god—we saw—that tape—"

The doctor nodded, finally signaling for him to stop talking about it.

Kirk knelt near me, looking at me warily. He held out the other container. "You want this now? I think it's Earl Grey or something like that," he said, trying to smile.

Questioningly, I looked up at Leo. He nodded.

I took the thermos, drinking it slowly and enjoying the warm, calming taste.

Neither of them spoke—or moved for that matter—while I slowly nursed the drink. My hands steadied. I could breathe normally. My mind had calmed itself.

"I'm alright," I said, after a while. "I'd like to go to the library, if I could, please."

"Of course," Kirk said, moving to help me up.

I shook my head. "I'm fine." I stood up, and all three of us made our way back to the lobby that held the elevator.

I had survived.


	10. Chapter 10

I spent the remainder of the day huddled away in a corner of the library, surrounded by books, and jotting down notes on things I wanted to remember.

Hours passed like minutes. I pushed everything out of my head except for the information in front of me. Words, facts, knowledge. These were the things I hid myself in.

"Hey."

My focus shot up, and I flinched before noticing that it was Kirk standing in front of me. I knew that he noticed, because his eyebrows knotted together for a half second, but just as quickly he switched back into his normal expression.

He stood against one of the shelves with his arms crossed. "How're you feeling?"

"Fine," I answered curtly.

He shrugged off my rude answer. "Are you hungry? You've been in here for almost eight hours."

I shut the book I was working on slowly. "What time _is_ it...?"

"21:30."

I shook my head in disbelief and smiled to myself, feeling the daze now that I wasn't distracted. "I guess time just got away from me." Getting up, I set the book back on the shelf and looked back at Kirk. "Are you?"

"What?"

"Hungry."

"Oh, always," he grinned as we made our way back out into the hallway of the deck. "Why are you always studying medicine, by the way? Any particular reason?" he asked.

"Well, Captain—"

He shot me a gentle smile and I ducked my head. "Jim. Call me Jim, okay?"

"Okay, _Jim_," the name sounded foreign on my tongue. "There's really not much to it, I just really like the idea of it. Helping people, getting them back to normal. I think it's a noble thing to do with your life and I'd love to be able to support others in that way."

He nodded as I spoke. "You want to be a doctor?"

"Actually, I'd rather study nursing. It deals with more caretaking than anything else, which is the area I think I'd do well in."

Once we made it to the elevator, he looked at me with interest. "Have you talked to Bones about this? He might be able to help you out, get you to a good school."

I shook my head and broke eye contact with him. "No, no—I don't want to bother him," I said quickly, pulling a piece of hair behind my ear.

"He wouldn't be too busy for that. I think he'd love to hear it."

I shrugged, still convinced that it would be too much of a burden. I didn't want to distract him from all the work he already had to do.

When we finally made it to the cafeteria, I stepped in, followed by Jim, into the crowded room.

Everyone _stared_.

You could've heard a pin drop.

My stomach dropped. Everyone must've heard about what happened; or they had seen the tape. Either way, they _knew_.

I backed up slowly, feeling choked all of the sudden, and backed straight into Kirk. I turned and saw the confusion written on his face, softly apologized, and left as fast as I could.

I walked quickly down the hallway, back to the elevator, but stopped as I heard Kirk's footsteps behind me.

"Eden," he started, but I cut him off.

"It's fine," I said, back towards him. He countered around me and I didn't look at him, I just kept trying to convince myself that it was _fine_, that everyone was just shocked about the prior events of the day. It didn't feel fine, though.

"They're just interested to see you, that's all—the tape went around earlier today—"

"Yes, I know, they saw. It's a natural reaction and I understand," I said, brushing him off easily. I still couldn't look him in the eye. Not yet. I felt something well up in me, and I tried to keep it in, but it was hard to when I knew he was watching me. I bit my lip.

"What's bothering you," he asked, voice quieter.

My voice seemed to dissolve in my throat. Tears welled up in my eyes and I sniffed. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble on your ship. It was never my intention."

"What are you talking about?" His eyes read confusion as his eyebrows knotted together. "You haven't done anything."

I flinched away from him as he tried to reach up for my arm. "I don't want to be like this, Sir. I don't _want_ to be afraid of everyone, but I am. And that's such a burden for everyone here. You all go out of your way to be so _careful_ and I don't deserve that. I'm getting in your way. This is a military ship, not a homeless facility."

"That's not true, and you know it. You're absolutely welcome here. But listen to me: we can help you, we can—"  
I shook my head vehemently. "Please don't try. Please don't put me through any more hell than I've already been through."

He sighed for a long time, the silence between us like glass. "I know how it is."

"You don't."

"I do, Eden." He looked at me and his eyes were dim. "When I was seven my mother remarried after my father was killed. By the time I was eight—my stepdad was beating us when she wasn't around. Look." He pulled up the sleeve of his worn mustard yellow shirt and revealed a long, vertical scar. "He threw he into a lamp. And it wasn't the first time."

Neither of us said anything. I looked away. The room was cold. I sniffed.

"I know what it is to be afraid, Eden. And you don't have to be."

I couldn't cry again. Not here. Not in front of him.

"Eden, look at me."

I did not.

"Come on, Eden, look at me."

I turned toward him, unsure. His eyes were honest and kind and _trustworthy _for the first time.

"You don't have to be alone."

After a while, I convinced Jim that I wanted to be alone and made my way back to Leo's room to eat in silence. I took the elevator up, meeting no one along the way before I had to cross through medbay to get back.

The doctor was hunched over medical papers, jotting things down and looking frustrated. I watched him for a moment, reveling in these silent seconds where I could try to figure out who the _real _Leonard Mccoy was. I valued any time that I had where I wouldn't be alone with my thoughts, where I would have nothing to distract me.

Figuring out Leo was like a game.

For hours one morning, I had studied the old fashioned photograph of him and his daughter. He looked happy, young, and unburdened.

I hoped he would look that way again one day.

"Do you need something?"

He hadn't looked up at all, and I jumped as if something had shocked me. "No, Sir—Leo."

"You sure about that?"

I studied my hands and bit my cheek. "Do you—I mean, would you happen to have anything that needs to be done? Cleaned, or put in order or anything?" Anything to keep me distracted, away from being trapped in a dark room alone.

He looked up at me then, eyes narrowing. "You can, uh—sort these by number. It's mostly busy work, but it's something if you want it."

After he spoke, he gestured towards a stack of papers on his desk.

I nodded, pulling up a chair at the other end of the desk. One light was on above us. The medbay was seemingly empty today. Empty and silent, which felt worse than anything else.

I made myself busy at once, shuffling through and trying to find number_ one_ to begin the pile. I focused on the color of the paper, how it felt in my fingers, how something so light could be torn apart to shreds as quickly as it had been created.

"How're you feeling?" he asked. I looked up and he was already searching me for an answer.

I stared at my dirty nails. "Fair." I paused, sifting through my thoughts. "I—I don't want to go to sleep."

"Why?" he asked, but his tone sounded like he already knew.

"Because I don't want to think."

He nodded, looking down on the work set in front of him. "Understandable."

We kept working, for what seemed like hours but was probably only one or two. Neither of us spoke. I had finished my work within twenty minutes, but still shuffled through, checking and rechecking. Thoughts spun drunkenly through my mind, making me feel almost dizzy.

Finally, he gathered up his things, and spoke quietly. "You done?"

I nodded, moving slowly behind him.

Dreading. Dreading. Dreading.

The hallway seemed endless as I padded along it, and I felt my head grow light.

"Lights, ninety percent."

I felt better, lights all the way up and Leo next to me.

"Why don't you go change," he said, handing my clothes to me.

I nodded, numb.

I changed quickly, not liking the feeling of emptiness and loneliness that filled me. The tile was cool under my feet.

When I emerged, he was sitting on his bed, reading something on a PADD.

"What are you reading?"

"Catcher in the Rye." He looked up at me, and patted the sheets next to him.

Pausing, I looked at him in question.

"Come on," he said, lifting an eyebrow.

I crawled across the sheets, huddling near him, but not touching him. "I don't want to be a bother."

"You're not a bother," he said with finality. "Go to sleep, I'm gonna read."

I did as he said, huddling down in the sheets, turning away from him. Even if it wouldn't fix everything, I was still thankful for this small gesture of kindness.

"Thank you," I said quietly, turning back to face him for a moment.

He glanced down. "Welcome. Let me know if you need anything."

I started to fall into sleep, a deep, dark, dreamless sleep—but just before, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder.

And I wondered why my body accepted Leonard Mccoy as safe, but no one else.


	11. Chapter 11

Days had passed after the Echo incident. We were slowly but surely making our way back to Earth, but in the meantime, life was quiet. I spent my time cleaning and reading, and had moved back to my own cot in Leo's room so I wouldn't bother him.

Kirk had begun to visit me more. I still didn't feel completely at ease with him, but he was nice—we talked about books and he taught me about astronomy in the observatory one afternoon.

But it wasn't until a week later when something interesting happened.

* * *

My vision was hazy when I woke up to the sound of motion in the room. I sat up sleepily, still huddled in blankets and warmth and body heat. "Leo?"

"Go back to sleep. I have to go treat a patient." His voice was scratchy and tired, and I wondered to myself how late it was.

"Can I help?"

The motion I was hearing stopped, suddenly. "You want to?"

"Yes." Even if I couldn't do much, maybe I could put my knowledge to work _somehow_. Just to be able to help in the smallest of ways.

"Get dressed, and hurry," he said. I heard him slipping on shoes and I hurried off to the bathroom.

Before long, we were out in the hall, walking side by side towards the medbay. "Who is it?" I asked.

"Charlie Grainer. He's Lieutenant Grainer's son. He and his wife work both work on the ship, so he's kept in the nursery."

"He's a child?"

"A toddler," he turned a corner. "He's four. And he's got a shit pair of lungs." We entered, meeting Chapel, who gave me a strange look that I ignored. She was on night duty and left when Mccoy relieved her from her position with Charlie. "Thanks, Chapel," he called after her.

It was just the four of us then.

Charlie was a four year-old boy with messy blond hair and blue eyes. Between his wheezing, he was crying, and grasping onto his mother's uniform collar for dear life.

Leo stepped up, speaking to the mother. "Another attack?"

She nodded. "The inhaler isn't helping this time. We didn't know what to do."

Listening, he moved towards his desk. "Not feeling good, huh, Charlie?"

The boy shook his head, still grasping the fabric with weak fists.

"Hey, you're gonna feel a lot better soon, okay?" I said, stepping forward, trying to calm him.

A beep of the mother's communicator interrupted me. "Grainer, here."

"You're needed in engineering," the voice answered.

"It's 05:00 in the morning, and I'm with my son—"

"Grainer? You were due at 04:30."

She sighed, agitated, and responded in a formal tone. "Yes, Sir. Yes, I'll be right there." She put it away and looked at Charlie carefully. "Mommy will be back in a little bit, okay?"

He shook his head, coughing out a vehement _no, _but she managed to extract him. "I'll be right back," she kept saying, before she managed to leave.

Charlie was a coughing, shivering mess.

I walked up to him, reaching for his hand. "Can I sit with you?"

"I want my mommy." His blue eyes were sad as a tear ran off his face onto his shirt.

I lifted myself up onto the exam table and patted my lap. "I know. But do you want to sit with me until she gets back?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leo smile as the boy scurried into my lap. A smile found its way to my face, too.

He coughed again, a thick, blocked noise. "I'm cold," he complained.

Rubbing his shoulders, I watched as Leo made his way to us with various tools.

He handed the boy a medical device. "Can you exhale for me?"

Charlie had obviously been through this before, taking the tool and doing as he said. He coughed in fits after he finished, and Leo watched the readings.

"Hmmm," he said, looking back up at him. "You know what this tells me?"

"What?" Charlie asked. He was obviously a little more than nervous.

"That Santa's gonna be extra good to you this year."

I laughed as Charlie looked up at me with stars in his eyes. "Did you hear that? Wow!" I said, ruffling his hair a little. "You must've been extra good this year."

"I was. Extra, _extra_ good."

"I'll bet," Leo had emerged from behind his desk again, with a different inhaler. "This is just like your other inhaler, just with different solution inside, alright? Try it. Just like your other one."

He did, inhaling the liquid three solid times before stopping. He wasn't coughing when he removed it.

"Better?" Leo asked.

The child nodded, happy to be able to breathe.

"If you feel bad again, tell your mom to bring you back here, and we'll get you fixed up again, alright?" Leo said.

Charlie nodded before wrapped his arms around my waist. "You're nice. And pretty. Thanks for sitting with me."

I smiled broadly, hugging him back. "You're pretty handsome yourself."

"Does this mean you want to be my girlfriend?"

I looked over at Leo, who looked like he could hardly contain his laughter as he signaled for a nurse to come bring Charlie back to the nursery.

"Maybe when youget a little bit older, okay?"

He nodded, before a nurse came by to bring him back.

I waved goodbye to him before Leo spoke. "You're a real natural around kids, you know that?"

I looked down shyly. "Thanks. I took care of kids once for a family. Best owners I ever had."

The silence was tangible before he said anything else.

"Can I ask you something?"

I nodded and looked over at him.

"Who is Cameron?"

My heart stopped. There was no way in heaven that he could've known. Not a single way.

"How? How did you—"

"You talk about him in your sleep sometimes. Like you're desperate."

I scraped my nails along the inside of my palm. Bringing back memories of Cameron was painful and difficult, and usually made me sick.

"He was my neighbor. In Alabama."

Leo waited for more.

"He got taken the same day I did. We were—together, actually, on his back deck. He was twelve and I was nine. We kept each other sane in the holding rooms where they trained us...he was my best friend. He was the last person I trusted before I met you."

He looked disturbed at what I was saying, but kept asking questions. "Where is he?"

"Dead. Beaten to death for trying to get out. I was there."

As I kept talking, I felt my breath start to hitch, but I turned the memories off. I was talking about the story of just another person in history. No one important or special to me.

That was the only way I knew how to deal with it.

Leo nodded and didn't ask any more questions. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"It's alright. He's just another person who helped me along. That's all anyone is in this life anyway. Just people helping other people along."

He stepped over to where I was sitting on the exam table, until he was standing at eye level with me. "You're smarter than you let people believe," he said quietly.

"I'm sure I'm not."

"You are. You're a very different kind of person, in a good way. And don't let anybody tell you otherwise."

Leo was standing in front of me, so close I could see scars on his neck from his Georgia days and I could almost feel the warmth radiating off his skin. I felt something shift in my mind.

I grasped the sides of his face gently.

And then I kissed him.

* * *

**I'm gonna say one thing, and one thing only-I'M SORRY FOR GIVING YOU A CLIFF HANGER I HAD TO!  
****(okay, maybe I'm gonna say two things: reviews are nice and i like getting them and reading them and stuff. So yeah. Reviews are good.)**


End file.
